Monthly Archives: August 2012

Good testimony about Romney’s time as Massachusetts Governor from his former Lieutenant Governor and a former member of his cabinet. The first is female. The second is not only an African-American female, but a self-described liberal Democrat. She is talking about how authentic Romney is. It’s not a good sign when someone has to vouch for your authenticity, but if it has to be done, this woman isn’t a bad »

Now the Romney campaign is taking on the potential political problem posed by Bain Capital. And he’s doing it head-on. The head of Staples is testifying to Romney’s dedication to making that company the great success it became. He includes a nice reference to the importance Romney gave to providing day care for the children of Staples employees, at a time when this was not so common. However, the Staples »

The Romney campaign is dealing with the potential political problem raised by his Mormon faith the same way he’s dealing with all other potential political problems this year — head-on. A friend and close associate from his church has described how hard Romney worked to help those in their parish. Now an elderly couple is recounting what Mitt Romney did to help bring joy and comfort to their young son »

Jeb Bush has paid brief tribute to his brother and has politely ripped President Obama for blaming his predecessor for the current woes. After nearly four years, says the former Florida governor, a real leader would accept responsibility for the failure of his policies. Now Bush has turned to his favorite issue — education, the soft underbelly of the Democrats’ fake claim that their Party puts people first. He’s making »

Newt Gingrich and his wife are talking about Ronald Reagan’s legacy and how the Romney-Ryan program fits well within that legacy. They are also comparing Barack Obama to Jimmy Carter. In some ways, they are being unfair to Carter, whose domestic policy was not particularly radical. In any event, this presentation represents a good use of Gingrich. — probably his highest and best use for purposes of this convention. »

One of the best lines in Paul Ryan’s speech last night was about the graduates who are unable to find jobs and are back living with their parents, looking at the faded Obama poster on the wall. That image has been brought to life by Justin Folk, winner of the Power Line Prize–not to mention the Doritos Super Bowl commercial contest–in this great video, “The Poster,” sponsored by Crossroads Generation. »

Once again, Power Line Live will be open for business at 7:00 central time tonight. (Actually, you can wander in any time; no doubt some people will be hanging out there before 7.) I will be there. It’s fun to share your impressions of the convention with like-minded conservatives and to see what others have to say, so stop on by: just go here. PS: The Firefox problem we were »

These are the extensive excerpts from the speech that Mitt Romney will deliver tonight that have been distributed to the media. It looks like a relatively soft-focus, conciliatory speech: Four years ago, I know that many Americans felt a fresh excitement about the possibilities of a new president. That president was not the choice of our party but Americans always come together after elections. We are a good and generous »

You can tell that Paul Ryan really stung the Democrats last night, by what the party’s leaders are telling their faithful. This is from Barney Frank, in an email titled “clever:” John – Paul Ryan is a rigid far-right ideologue and a clever politician. That’s a dangerous combination — especially in an election where ultraconservative billionaires like the Koch Brothers are spending millions to ensure that their extreme right-wing agenda »

Reader Peter Rice lives near the site of the Republican National Convention and is attending as a guest. He has kindly sent us this brief set of observations of the convention so far: 1. Republican speakers continue to highlight and celebrate champions and to present themselves as champions, such as Condi Rice as the little girl in Jim Crow Alabama who grew up to become Secretary of State. 2. The »

Speculation is swirling around the “To Be Announced” slot on tonight’s GOP convention program. The mystery speaker must be important, since only Marco Rubio, introducing Mitt Romney, and Romney himself follow him or her. But who is it? No one seems to know. Take our poll and make your own guess. If you think it is someone else entirely, you can express your view in the comments: UPDATE: Joe Malchow »

Okay, so this Der Spiegel headline is in German. What’s in the story? Some familiar themes, as related by our translator P. Gosselin at NoTricksZone.com: Undisputed is that the desert is growing…the Sahara in some places has expanded southwards by 48 km…24 million people in Mauritius , Senegal, Mali, Niger and Chad are threatened with starving to death. Meteorologists and climate scientists have another reason for the catastrophe: the changing world »

As the national debt crosses the $16 trillion mark some time in the next few weeks, let’s not forget that this isn’t the whole story as far as public debt is concerned. The 50 states have a cumulative debt of about $4.2 trillion. California is the worst, naturally, with total outstanding debt of $617 billion. Illinois, whose debt rating was downgraded yesterday by S & P, ranks fifth, with $271 »

“Elizabeth Warren was supposed to be the Great Liberal Hope, the one Democrat tough enough to evict Scott Brown from Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat. Then she started campaigning.” So begins a devastating critique of Elizabeth Warren’s candidacy that appeared in Boston Magazine. Shockingly, as the reader who alerted me to this article put it, the Harvard prof who lives in Cambridge isn’t connecting in the suburbs with middle class and »

The great thing about Paul Ryan’s speech last night is that it worked at so many levels. As I tried to show in my initial post about the speech, it worked as an indictment of Obama administration policy, as deft support for Mitt Romney, and as traditional pulling of the heartstrings. And it worked at an additional level that I neglected to note — a portryal of Barack Obama as »

Over at Gateway Pundit, Jim Hoft reports a story that I am quite sure will not be picked up by the New York Times or MSNBC: “Obama honored fallen SEALs by sending their parents a form letter signed by electric pen.” Jim writes: On August 6, 2011, 30 US service members were killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were being transported in crashed in Wardak province, Afghanistan. It was »

Paul Ryan’s speech at the Republican National Convention did not disappoint. John posted the text and Paul celebrated the speech as “optimal and then some.” I believe that’s slightly beyond a superlative, and I concur. The speech ran some 36 minutes. It was full of highlights and merits viewing in its entirety. Let’s go to the tape. Ryan’s indictment of Obama is profound. Among the bill of particulars is »